• Reed Johnson sits down with “Invictus” director Clint Eastwood and star Morgan Freeman. [Los Angeles Times]
• Eric D. Snider digs into the different perspectives on what makes a decade’s end. [Eric D. Snider]
• Noah Forrest stumps for some low-lying contenders that need the help. [Movie City News]
Um, okay. So the list of nominations for the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association were announced this morning. The group’s official website notes that the winners will be announced tomorrow (so…why bother with day-before nominees?). And now The Wrap is reporting (sans attribution — so I guess via press release) that the winners are as follows:
Best Film
“Up in the Air”
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
(more after the jump)
Seeing as Kris was (delete as appropriate) brave/stupid/psychic/smart enough to predict who will win the Oscars four months ahead of the ceremony (and three weeks earlier than he did last year), I figured I’d follow up, as I did last year, with my own foolhardy guesses too.
Last year, Kris kicked my ass at this particular game, correctly guessing 13 out 21 categories, and forecasting “Slumdog” fever while I was still on the “Milk” train. (Ironically, the lone “Slumdog Millionaire” win I predicted — Best Song — was one Kris missed.) For my part, I called wins for Sean Penn and Kate Winslet (for the wrong film, of course) … though that hardly qualifies as visionary, does it?
This year, however, we are of a like mind in most of the top categories, though we part ways considerably further down the list. If you’re looking to take any of our predictions to the bank, stick with Kris. But, you know, a different perspective never hurt anyone.
My best (or worst) guesses after the cut, followed by your collective prediction culled from yesterday’s comment thread.
I don’t offer up predictions on a given year’s Oscar winners until November, generally speaking. And, well, it’s November. Which is still, of course, too early to be making calls like these, since we don’t even have a nominations slate to go by, but I like to take an early stab, revisit in early December and then one more time in early January before we get the nominees.
I asked over the weekend what readers thought would take the Best Picture crown this year, and the majority seemed to lean toward Lee Daniels’s “Precious.” It might be too easy to figure on that at this stage, but it’s difficult to argue with the early box office success and overall critical approval.
But there are certainly other spoilers lurking and the danger of peaking early (yielding more time for competitors to take you down) is always apparent with a film like this.
Keep reading to have a look at what I’m thinking. Rattle off your thoughts and predictions in the comments section if you like.
Mariah Carey is clearly well-versed in Oscar strategy. Or, at least, one strategy in particular: the “uglying-up” route that has won kudos for multiple attractive actresses (Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Marion Cotillard et al) “brave” enough to shed makeup and/or don prosthetics for their art.
I say this because Carey currently seems to be telling anyone who will listen about the makeunder she endured for her extended cameo in “Precious.” To the New York Times, she recently gushed, “People say to me, ‘You’re so ugly in this movie,’ and I take that as a compliment,” before revealing how Lee Daniels ordered her to remove her blush. (Quelle horreur!)
Meanwhile, she tells Us Magazine that she “drank some ugly juice” to achieve her level of “hideousness” in the movie. And in case we hadn’t got the idea, she reiterates in an interview in today’s LA Times that she’s unable to so much as look at her “hideosity” on screen.
• Brian Brooks sits down with “Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe. [indieWIRE]
• Mark Harris on Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar: cinematic soul mates. [New York Times]
• Mark Salisbury writes up “The Young Victoria” from across the pond with quotes from actress Emily Blunt and screenwriter Julian Fellowes. [Los Angeles Times]
We have a belated edition of Oscar Talk for you today. We apologize for the lateness, but what better way to kick back on a Sunday afternoon than with yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood?
In this eighth installment, we actually covered a lot of ground. This week’s topics:
• With “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” hitting theaters this weekend, we lead off talking brief about the film (which Anne hasn’t seen).
• With music on the mind, this leads to another quick discussion about the Academy’s music branch, which caused poor Sad brad Smith to preemptively refrain from submitting his moving track “Help Yourself” from “Up in the Air” for consideration this year.
• Rumors of Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Oscarcast after doing bang-up jobs at the Tonys and Emmys are circulating, and in the wake of Ricky Gervais being tapped to emcee the Golden Globes this year, we spin our wheels on that topic one more time.
• “Precious” is opening next week, so with that (and Anne’s recent piece concerning Mo’Nique’s behind-the-scenes drama issues) in mind, we talk about whether the film, or the actress herself, has to win a popularity contest this season to gain the Academy’s attention and respect.
At this early stage in the awards race, I’ve been getting along unusually well with every major contender I’ve encountered: “The Hurt Locker,” “An Education,” “Up in the Air,” along with darker horses like “Bright Star” and “A Single Man,” have all been pleasing, giving me hope that this would be one of those rare Oscar years when I could contentedly roll with any outcome.
Something had to break, I suppose. And it’s with not a little regret that I write this, but it broke this afternoon as I finally encountered Lee Daniels’s much-vaunted “Precious” for the first time.
I understand and respect what has moved the critical majority so profoundly about this abrasive, eccentric film. It visits such extremities of physical and psychic pain that it does invite a kind of emotional responsibility towards its protagonist; if Daniels did have as heavy a creative hand in “Monster’s Ball” as he claims, one could draw an interesting comparison between the two films’ almost mythic excesses of female suffering.
A few weeks ago in this space I took a dedicated look at the lead actress category. With little in the way of actual development (this season is curiously divided on the timeline as we’ve got maybe another month before more major titles begin screening), I figured it would be a good idea to keep things going on that front and take a look at the supporting actress race.
It’s a little difficult to ignore the fact that Mo’Nique stands way out ahead of the pack in this race for her work in “Precious.” Unless her reported behind-the-scenes drama-queen tactics somehow poison the cause, she should be holding a statue in four months’ time. She is fierce and focused in a monstrous role and when viewers get over the initial “she had this in her?” shock, they’ll also see it for the expert piece of acting that it is.
Mo’Nique is joined in her film, however, by what I’d call an awards-worthy turn from Mariah Carey. The singer-turned-actress has been lurking in Mo’Nique’s shadow throughout the film’s publicity and festival tour this year, and she also lost something of a diva battle with Mary J. Blige to have a featured track in the film. The poor girl can’t catch a break here, but I think she deserves a look from voters and, perhaps, even prognosticators.
A few weeks ago I mentioned in an episode of Oscar Talk that “Up in the Air” star Vera Farmiga would be pushed as a lead actress. Some things have changed.
As Guy points to the changing face of the typical “Oscar movie,” I’m reminded of a number of Oscar-related conversations as of late. One question keeps popping through the “What can crack the 10” debate, and that is, “What can actually win?” Of course, going into the season, the films to beat seem to be “Precious” and “Up in the Air,” based on impressive festival cred. But other titles have been popping up as possibilities, too.
“The Lovely Bones” certainly seems like an across-the-board player. And if it lands a slightly unexpected PG-13 rating (it’s looking like it might), then it could prove even more accessible (i.e., commercially successful) than one might have anticipated. The emotion of the narrative may just be gravy after that.
I get the feeling that, of the other two unseen giants, “Nine” could prove a little too “been there, done that.” But I think “Invictus,” if it delivers, could land a zeitgeisty message of healing a nation after years of political unrest that might prove irresistible to the Academy (from a McCain supporter, no less).
In truth, however, I keep coming back to “Precious,” with just the right level of art house appeal, social consideration and dramatic flare to make good on its current frontrunner status and survive the season. And this recent Lynn Hirschberg profile on director Lee Daniels in The New York Times Magazine is stuffed with insights and asides that make the bet feel safer and safer.
• Digital marketing consultant Chris Dorr points out missed online opportunities with “Bright Star.” [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Steve Pond jumps on the “Up in the Air” train, says it renders the expectations irrelevant. [The Odds]
• Lying about seeing “The Godfather.” [The Guardian]
• Steve Pond asks five important questions about the expanded Best Picture category. #1, #3 and #5 have been covered at length in this space. #2 is philosophical and worth considering. #4 is a practical issue at hand, I imagine. [The Odds]
• On set with the Coens directing “A Serious Man.” [MakingOf]
• Nicolas Winding Refn talks “Bronson”‘s Pet Shop Boys alterna-score, among other things. [The Playlist]
The “I hate this year’s fantastic, long-odds indie success just because” machine is nothing if not efficient.
–Marlowe in today’s Mo’Nique “scandal” thread.
Well, this is unpleasant. I don’t know whether gossipmonger Roger Friedman has it in for presumed Best Supporting Actress frontrunner Mo’Nique or not, but this attack on her professional behavior in regard to publicizing “Precious” strikes me as distinctly unnecessary.
According to Friedman, the actress has been cagey about doing press for the film, not appearing at the Cannes, Toronto or New York festival premieres of the film — apparently due other professional commitments. Friedman isn’t impressed:
I did tell you that Mo’Nique has gotten herself a reputation for demanding money for showing up to promote “Precious.” It’s a first in Oscar history.
Last week I spoke to one of her representatives, who said, “It’s just supporting actress. It’s not lead, is it?” What the heck! It would be nice if someone close to Mo’Nique will explain her behavior soon. Otherwise, her “cinch” Oscar is about to fade away. “Precious” will go on and be just fine without Mo’Nique.
The problem with film festivals is that sometimes we critics speak too soon. Earlier today I stated that after seeing “Up in the Air,” it might be the best American film of the year, and until seeing “Precious” this morning, I meant it.
Two hours later, walking out of the theater, exhausted, beaten up, stunned by the images I had just seen, yet with a kernel of hope, I realized I had just witnessed a work of art. The press, us hardened critics who can be so cynical and negative, applauded this film for several minutes as the credits rolled, but it was more than that.
Most of us grew up in stable homes with loving parents, never knowing the meaning of hunger, never having to worry about being beaten or abused either physically or verbally. Most of us, but not all of us.
Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) does not know this world because she lives in hell. In her world, her father rapes her; she bears two children by this monster by the time she is 16 and refers to her her daughter, a Downs Syndrome baby, as Mongo, not out of cruellty, but out of ignorance. Precious is obese and illiterate, yet escapes from time to time into a fantasy world of her own where she is desirable and beloved by all who know her.
As is clear from their determination to cling to the ungainly handle “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire,” the team behind the upcoming big-screen adaptation of New York poet Sapphire’s well-regarded 1996 novella are keen to acknowledge the film’s literary heritage. (And not just because a lousy February release stole their original title.)
It’s not surprising. “Push” was a minor publishing phenomenon in the 1990s that has since become a solid modern entry in the canons of both African-American and youth literature – the book wears its debt to Toni Morrison and Alice Walker proudly on its sleeve – so the film obviously wants to announce itself to Sapphire’s devoted readership.
More subliminally, however, I suspect the film’s prominently advertised literary cache aims to differentiate it from any number of urban-leaning titles with similar themes but minimal artistic cred – and to lend it a varnish of prestige to awards voters wary of the subject matter.
A glance at the bare-bones synopsis for “Push” or “Precious” – illiterate, physically and emotionally abused Harlem girl recovers sense of self-worth thanks to inspirational teacher – offers little indication of how the final work will be superior to Hollywood schlock of the “Dangerous Minds” ilk, or even Lifetime TV territory. (On the surface, this could easily turn into a facsimile of “Life is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story,” minus the eventual fame and fortune.)
Since it was announced that it would be playing the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes, I’ve been interested to see how Lee Daniels’ “Precious” would play on this side of the Atlantic.
Though the film was an all-round sensation at Sundance back in January, I wasn’t sure if it would receive the same level of adulation here, where there traditionally isn’t much of an audience for U.S. urban-based stories.
Moreover, the film’s biggest talking-point at Sundance — Mo’Nique’s surprise-attack performance — risked being diluted in Europe, where I suspect few people know who the comedienne is. (It’s telling that the Cannes media has focused far more on Mariah Carey’s de-glamming.)
All of which hasn’t appeared to matter one jot, as the film screened last night to a rapturous standing ovation, making it one of the heavy favorites for the Un Certain Regard award, which has boosted such arthouse fare as “The Band’s Visit” and “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” in recent years.
That “Precious” has been so warmly embraced in a critical environment not particularly predisposed towards such a film speaks volumes. Could its awards prospects go beyond that increasingly likely-looking Best Supporting Actress bid for Mo’Nique? A Best Adapted Screenplay nod, or Best Actress for Gabourey Sidibe, are certainly in the realm of possibility. A Best Picture bid seems to me a bit too great a leap for the Academy at this stage, but as long as the film keeps slaying audiences like this, who knows?